Ph.D. were a British duo best known for their UK top 10

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust or HIT, a fictional organization i ...

" I Won't Let You Down" in April 1982, which had been a hit the previous year throughout Europe. The band was a duo, but it took its name from the initial letters of the surnames of the three performers on the group's original recordings: Phillips, Hymas and Diamond. Though drummer Simon Phillips appears on a number of the band's tracks as a session player, he was not an official member of Ph.D., which consisted of keyboard player

Tony Hymas Anthony James Keith "Tony" Hymas (born 23 September 1943) is an English keyboard player, pianist, and composer. In the Eighties he formed the band Ph.D. (band), Ph.D., who had a Top 10 hit in the UK with the song "I Won't Let You Down (Ph.D. so ...

and vocalist Jim Diamond.

Band history

Jim Diamond formed the group with former

Jeff Beck Group The Jeff Beck Group was a British rock band formed in London in January 1967 by former Yardbirds guitarist Jeff Beck. Their innovative approach to heavy-sounding blues, rhythm and blues and rock was a major influence on popular music. Histor ...

member

in 1980. Vocalist Diamond wrote the lyrics, multi-instrumentalist Hymas wrote the music, and all publicity, video clips, and official album credits made it clear that the group was a duo of Diamond and Hymas. Simon Phillips, also a previous member of The Jeff Beck Group, was brought in as a frequent session drummer, though drummer

Mark Craney Mark Craney (August 26, 1952 – November 26, 2005) was an American rock and jazz drummer. Biography Craney grew up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. His father had played the drums and was a big influence on his musical career. Craney initially p ...

was also used on some tracks. The duo's self-titled debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

(1981) spawned a hit with their

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

"I Won't Let You Down", which peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart in 1982, and number five in Australia. Following the single's success, the album was re-issued and finally entered the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

. Their

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for "Little Suzi's on the Up" was notable for being the fifth video shown on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's first broadcasting day on 1 August 1981, despite the fact that the song did not chart in America (nor did any of Ph.D.'s singles or albums). Ph.D.released their second album, '' Is It Safe?'', in 1983, with Phillips and Craney again alternating as drummer from song to song. The first single, "I Didn't Know", failed to make the UK top 40, but did well in Europe. A short time later Diamond contracted

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver parenchyma, liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), Anorexia (symptom), poor appetite ...

. Prevented by his illness from touring, the group disbanded.

After Ph.D.

Diamond returned as a solo artist and scored a UK No. 1 single in November 1984 with "

I Should Have Known Better "I Should Have Known Better" is a song by English rock band the Beatles composed by John Lennon (credited to Lennon–McCartney) and originally issued on '' A Hard Day's Night'', their soundtrack for the film of the same name released on 10 Ju ...

". Hymas appeared on Diamond's self-titled 1988 album, '' Jim Diamond''. Diamond and Hymas re-formed the group in 2006. The first two albums were reissued by

Voiceprint Records Voiceprint Records was a British independent record label based in England, founded in November 1990 by Rob Ayling. They specialised in re-releasing old material, especially progressive rock, but also had new releases, under the Resurgence and Bl ...

. The label also released ''

Three 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

'' on 2 February 2009, with Phillips drumming on three tracks. (The duo's other frequent session drummer, Mark Craney, had died in 2005.) Jim Diamond died on 8 October 2015.

Band members

* Jim Diamond – vocals (1981–1983, 2006–2015; died 2015) *

– keyboards (1981–1983, 2006–2015) Frequent session drummers: * Simon Phillips – drums (1981–1983, 2009) *

– drums (1981–1983)

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

External links

Jim Diamond official website

Tony Hymas official website

Little Suzi's on the Up Music Video
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Ph.D. English new wave musical groups English pop music groups British musical trios English synth-pop new wave groups Musical groups established in 1981 Musical groups disestablished in 1983 Musical groups reestablished in 2006 Musical groups disestablished in 2015 Atlantic Records artists Voiceprint Records artists Warner Music Group artists